bilge switch and tilt problems

[Chad Henze]

Fished a club tournament in the cold rain all day Sunday, and the bilge pump kept coming on in my '92 170TF (which I've only had for a month). Not because of water in the bilge - its not an automatic pump. I believe it was because the switch was getting wet. I had it happen one other time when I was washing the boat. Happened with the flasher switch later in the day too. Anybody else had similar problems? Will replacing the switches help?



Also noticed something else a bit strange. I tilted the motor up to go into some real shallow water. About 30 mins. later I notice that it had come back down on its own. Is this usual, or a sign of problems to come with my tilt/trim?



Bye the way, I got 3rd place and lunker in the tournament, so not a bad day despite these minor problems.

 

[Mark Hofman]

I don't know about the bilge switch, but your tilt problem sounds similar to others that have been posted here. In those situations, the suspect was bad or leaky seals and the unit isn't holding hydraulic pressure. You will want to have someone check that out. For someone who is mechanically inclined, folks have said it isn't a difficult repair.



You may also be low on trim fluid. I would say that a trim unit that functions on its own is definitely NOT "usual".

 

[Rob LaMoy]

It's not that it's functioning, it's slowly letting down. If it were in your driveway over the course of say a couple of days, that's one thing. However, you say it was within 30 minutes. Mine is an '89 and if I trim it up, it will stay there until I trim it down to run even hours later. I would think you either have a leak, are low on fluid as Mark said, or might have air in the unit. The best person to ask is Bob. He's voodoo wizard of outboards and will probably have you diagnosed quick. But by all means get it looked at before going back out. Losing trim on the water is never fun. Good luck. Let us know what you find. Good job on the tourney.